Talk:Dark Spark
Testimonials *Killable by a party of level 53 or higher characters; Soloable by most jobs at level 70 or higher. *Soloable by a level 59 NIN/WHM using Refresh Drinks (melee for damage and Blade: Retsu). *Soloable by NIN60/DNC30 well equipped, with 120 TP. (see talk page) Soloing Dark Spark Not Worth the Trouble If you want to solo dark spark, he's harder than you think. You need to be at least level 74 with a fully leveled ninja sub. Utsusemi is a must, because when its down he may land hits ranging between 70-200 damage even at level 75. He loves his Bio III because that is what he tends to cast. The only TP move he seems to do is Berserk, which increases his attack yet lowers his defense. I soloed him as 75 whm/37 nin and it was not easy. He went through my stoneskin in 2 or 3 hits, and when you start damage you have to use flash and pray to get utsusemi or stoneskin back up fast. Even with the tanking gear I was wearing (including 2 phanlax rings) and Protect IV, he was hitting about 100-120 on average with crits in the 180s when utsusemi and stoneskin is down. He does miss quite a bit, however, and is suspectible to paralyze and slow. Once he started using Berserk, I was popping Hexa Strikes for 900-1050. When I finally defeated him, I was down to ~100 MP. I don't recommend soloing him, after that experience. I have seen well equipped 75 RDM/37 NIN in the past just struggle against Dark Spark when they attempted to solo due to that Bio III that does 10 damage per tick. Get a ninja tank and a healer (with Erase) and duo or trio it. You're much better off that way. -- Ayrlie, 12:33 (CDT), 23 July 2006 I was actually able to solo this as 75 BLM/WHM. Sleep/nuke method works well on him, though it takes a good while to take down, and you have to worry about respawning demons. Bind works on him as well, and Erase for Bio III is pretty much a must. -- Zeik ---- I soloed him as 75RNG/NIN with out too much trouble. At the end of the fight I was at 700 HP but Bio III brought me down to 400 before it wore. It is a risky fight. Miss a barrage or a slug shot and you could find your self in some need of healing. I think I dodged about 50% of his attacks so you'll have to worry about recasting utsu. Be ready for him and you'll be ok, don't take him lightly or you'll find your self dead. --Masse 18:24, 16 December 2006 (EST) ---- I was also able to solo this pretty easily as whm/nin, just have to come prepared and its a pretty easy fight. Once he beserks he goes down really fast. Just keep flashing whenever its up, stay hasted, and it should be a piece of cake. --Zhais ---- After reading these comments I was ready to get trounced, but it turned out to be an easy solo as a 60 DRG/WHM. He hits hard, but nothing Healing Breath couldn't keep up with. His accuracy really is quite low; I evaded almost 1/3 of his attacks. You don't necessarily need either level 74 or Utsusemi to win this. --Ooka 22:52, 19 October 2007 (UTC) ---- I just solo'ed Dark Spark as a 75RDM/37NIN it was really easy. Didn't lose a single HP and ended with about 200MP Kyofooyo 03:15, 5 April 2008 (UTC) ---- I was just reading up on the discussion of the Dark Spark fight and was kind of nervous about going without /NIN. My Dynamis friend said he'd come and help me out. He came 75 BLM/WHM and I came 75 WHM/BLM hoping for the best. We duo'd it without much trouble. I kept Barfira up in case of Self-Destruct, Flashed to help us reapply Stoneskin, and Erase whenever he used Bio III. I did use Devotion when my friend got Aspir which helped with MP pool. Overall, the fight was pretty easy and thankfully Dark Spark didn't Self-Destruct. ^.^ --Xelestria 07:11, 12 April 2008 (UTC) ---- I just won the fight with a bit of help from a friend. Our setup had me "tanking" as RDM70/NIN, my adventuring fellow as extra DD (Fierce Attacker 51), and my friend as backup healer (WHM51/BLM). My biggest problem was just keeping shadows and Stoneskin up, since /NIN35 gave me only Utsusemi:Ichi. I also kept Haste and En-(whatever) up for extra damage, and made sure to skillchain Distortion with my fellow at every opportunity. The only tense moment for me was toward the end of the fight when I was forced to Convert very close to DS's Self-Destruct threshhold. When it finally did Self-Destruct, it killed my fellow, but my shadows and Stoneskin absorbed the blast, and my WHM friend stayed out of range. This was a really fun fight, and I've now doomed myself to repeat it for my LS-mates. ^^ -- Zerobandwidth 13:38, 21 April 2008 (UTC) ----